Close But No Cigar For United

16 May 2011 02:20

Dundee United kept it close till the end in the race for Europe Peter Houston was pleased to see his Dundee United side end the season on a winning note so those players who are in the summer could leave on a positive note. There was little more than pride to play for at Tannadice on Sunday with the Jambos and United already confirmed in third and fourth places respectively in the SPL. However, a 2-1 home win is not to be sniffed at and they ended the season just one point behind Hearts. David Goodwillie opened the scoring but this was cancelled out by Gary Glen before United captain Jon Daly scored the winner with a low drive after 71 minutes. Morgaro Gomis, Prince Buaben, Craig Conway and second-half substitute David Robertson were all involved in what is likely to be their last game at Tannadice. The quartet, who were all part of the United side that lifted the Scottish Cup and finished third in the SPL last season, were given a warm send-off by the home support. Houston said: "The boys were quite emotional as they have really enjoyed their time at Dundee United and we have really enjoyed them being here. They can walk out with their heads held high because they were part of the team that won the Scottish Cup. It is a good way for the guys to sign off. I thought it was a pretty even game and, truth be told, a draw would have been a fair result but we will take the victory. It means we finish on 61 points, which is only two points short of what we managed last season. It is a great credit to the players and we wish the players who are moving on from the football club good luck as they have done this club a turn." Hearts manager Jim Jefferies took the opportunity to give some of his youngsters a chance by making six changes from the team that lost 3-0 to Celtic midweek and, despite the defeat, said he was pleased with the way his team performed. The result meant Hearts finished their SPL campaign without a win in their final eight games but managed to hold on to third place despite a late charge from Dundee United. He said: "I had a laugh with Peter Houston before the game as he said he might play a few young boys but in the end he put out possibly his strongest team. We said we would give some of the boys who have had to wait on the bench a chance. We had a lot of players out today but the boys that came in did us proud. I had five of the under-19s who have had a fantastic season on the bench today. Hopefully the ones that came on will remember the day and use this as a positive to want more experiences like this. With the way the game flowed from end to end I thought a draw would have been the right result but it wasn't to be."